It has been a great second
week of school!
Routines are going
smoothly.
We are starting to get our
routines down as we have visited the music room and met our music teacher,
Dr.Grant. We have also gone to the library where we met our school Librarian, Mrs.
McGee. (We have our library bags now too!) We have also met Mr.Orique, who
comes out with us for outdoor play. We even had our first fire drill the
other day and our students did a great job!
We have explored our room,
learned to tidy up and play well, made two crafts for our bulletin boards, and played in the gym and outside. Your child now knows what to do on entry in the
morning, is able to wash their hands, get out their snack and make decisions as
to what to eat. They can repack and put their lunch bag in the proper spot for
lunch pick up and can repack their lunch bag into their knapsack
independently. It is a wonder!!!
Circle Time Books
This is your second week
with the Circle Time Books. I hope you are enjoying the time you’re spending
with your child. Please feel free to review other songs or poems that your
child enjoyed previously. One fun activity we are doing with these poems and
songs is finding rhyming words, and finding common sight words. We make it fun
and give them strategies for finding them. Already I’ve had a JK student show me the word ‘you’ in a
different chart than we learned it! It’s pretty exciting. Don’t forget to sign
the pages your child reads to you… they will get a prize for reading this book
to you on a weekly basis.
Learning learning learning.
It's only
been two weeks and already we have talked about graphing, and have been
learning how to use words such as "more, least, less than, more than, and
equal" when talking about our results. Through art and math we are discovering
and identifying our hair colors, eyes, and what makes us look the same and
different from our peers as we are all the same yet different.
Calendar/Number of School
Days
Everyday we practice the
names for the days of the week and count to the next number on the calendar. We
also make a chart to keep track of the number of days we’ve been in
school. On Monday it will be 10
days!!! That’s pretty exciting!
Terry Fox Walk and Pledges
By now you'll have gotten
a pledge sheet in your red folders. When you are done filling out your
sheet please send it back to school so we can collect it and send it to the coordinators. They won't be due until after Thanksgiving. The Kindergarten classes will be walking a much different path from the rest of
the school so we invite you to walk with your child as we walk around the
school.
Snuggle Up and Read
Program
By now everyone in the
class has their Snuggle Up and Read zip lock bag and recording book.
Instruction are pretty clear on the bag, (I hope) Let me know if you have any
questions or would like to see how I would do a reading session with your child
to maximize learning and keep them interested. Please read every night, record
the book with your child in the recording booklet and return it to school the
next day. At school your child will exchange their book and put it in their knap sack to
read again that night.
One thing that might fill
up that recording book is that you can write down all the books you read to
your child and all the books your child reads. Remember your child will get a
prize when they fill up their recording book. They will get a new recording book after that. We usually have plastic medals for students who finish 4 recording books... 100 books and other prizes for 150 and 200.
Class Schedule
As you probably know, our
school is run on a 5 day cycle. There are certain activities we do on each day.
You’ve been notified about Library days but I will send you an email telling
you which day your child has library as the students are divided into two
groups. For now just return the library book when you are finished reading it. I have posted a daily schedule at the entry/exit door so parents know what is happening and what day it is. Please feel free to peek in to take a look.
Number and Colour Groups
Every year I organize
students into 5 groups. Each group has 5-6 students in it, with an equal amount
of juniors and seniors. There are many activities I plan in the class that
revolve around the student groups. Often students groups rotate through 5
different language and math activities a week. This year we are using the
colour groups, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Your child might remember
which group they are in and what number group that is but if you want to make
sure, just check their book bag for the star colour, or their books as it’s on
them.
Class helpers and Show and
Tell.
For one day a week your
child will have the opportunity to be a special helper and to stand in front of
the class to tell us about themselves or tell us a story. Your child’s show and
tell day number is the same day as their group number. So if your child is in
group 1 then they are special helpers on day 1 and present their show and tell
that day. Ok so some show and tell rules. Your child can bring in something
they have made- a picture, craft etc, they can bring in something they have a
story about – a stuffed animal they love or a photo of something or someone,
and your child can tell us a story about something they’ve experienced, a book
they’ve read or had read to them etc.. The only no… is toys. Please do not let
your child choose to bring in a toy for show and tell. I will not be able to
let them present it, which might cause tears. The reason? I don’t want show and
tell to become a “Who’s got the best toys?” event.Your child will learn to ask and answer questions during this activity. We will focus on questions that start with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Please help your child to know the answers to possible questions so they will be successful. This Show and Tell will start on Tuesday with Group 1 - Red group, Group 2 - Yellow etc...
That’s all for now….
Please tell your child the secret word is “Jump” and please remind them that
they can’t tell anyone else.
Take care
Jennifer Hall
